Brugmansis Arborea - anyone know their habits

I'm a novice gardener and I've got a new plot to play with in Ile de France. We're a bit south of Paris but a bit more exposed to frost than they are in the Smoke.


Can anyone give me some advice on how to go about keeping my Brugmansis - Angel's Trumpet? At the moment, it's in a pot - probably with its roots in a knot - and is pretty much a trunk with some flowers at the top. I'd like to put it in the ground, but I know they're used to much hotter climates and I'm worried it won't make it through the winter. Has anybody succeeded in growing them in the garden in northern-ish parts?


Otherwise, I'm going to have to buy a greenhouse, as we don't have anywhere to put it in winter!

Jardiland Schmardiland... I bought it from Lidl! You do get the odd interesting thing there, though they don't always grow.

Go on, Brian, be a devil - you know you want to!
Pamela, read the link and got an instant high from the word 'cuttings':)
I'll post photos when it does something. At the moment, it's just got the one pod, and holey leaves after the horrible hailstones of last week.

Ah, you are an angel - aaargh, mentioned that word! Perhaps I am simply an endangered species.

OK - next time, tell me before you go to Jardiland and I won't post anything to do with lovely plants so you can avoid all temptation...

Pamela, I wish you had not responded TODAY. Some of us are meeting in Jardiland and I might well have walked in and nosed around... Now I consider myself at high risk :-(

Mind you - if I 'accidentally' buy an angel's trumpet then I might thank you ;-)

I don't know this plant, but was intrigued by the posting so I've done a bit of research on the net. Sounds like a beautiful addition to the garden with its tropical appearance and - large perfumed flowers! This website seems to have some useful information: http://entheology.com/features/brugmansia-arborea-angels-trumpet-tree/
look forward to some photos when it's established :)

Oh yes, I kept it down to that. The natural ones in the Andes are all of double that. Fortunately they don't get too bushy though.

God, just digested the '6 metres high' bit. A way to go, then! Definitely into encouraging butterflies. We had an elephant hawk moth (think that's what they're called) last summer - only the one, but it's something I haven't seen since I was a kid in the UK.

Best of luck with it. My one had white flowers and when it got bit biggish was spectacular, a lovely evening fragrance and attracted endless numbers of moths. Just go for it :-)

Cheers, Brian. I should have come straight here for an answer instead of wading through endless other websites without much reassurance! I'm hoping that if it comes through winter (it's come through everything else so far), it might just start putting out laterally instead of going upwards. I have just the spot...

I don't have any here but had an angel's trumpet of about 6 metres height in Cambridgeshire. It withstood the cold winters, mainly by mulching them with bark around the base of the trunk. That area is far colder than Ile de France. At the same time, early in my career I was working in the Andes where they were common enough and to be straight to the point, it was colder up there than East Anglia ever was during the mid-winter months, so I don't think you have too much to worry about as long as you keep it protected whilst young.